Responsible Citizenship

Collegiate has a long history of community service, and this continues in every division and at every grade level. We also have a strong commitment to service learning - where service is a tool for students to learn the course curriculum. Service learning employs a teaching strategy that integrates meaningful service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience. The five stages of service learning are: Investigation, Preparation, Action, Reflection and Demonstration. Collegiate embraces this deeper, high-quality learning and looks to current research to guide our curriculum.

Lower School science teachers design lessons that illustrate the need to protect the world’s rainforests and its animals; “Toucan Treats” are made by students and raised funds are donated to support research and other funding for rainforest conservation.

5th Grade Water Program focuses of water in ancient civilizations. After reading A Long Walk to Water about life in Sudan, students raise money for building a well in Sudan and participate in local service to protect the James River.

Freshman Community Engagement and English 9 expose students to needs in Richmond by engaging in service through a wide range of community organizations. In-class pre- and post-reflection activates student “voices,” ownership and personal agency while furthering understanding of Richmond and responsible citizenship.

The Middle School ChangeMaker Club pitched it’s product idea to an internal Collegiate audience of faculty, staff, students and administrators for feedback. Their work is the culmination of three semesters of design thinking. With their feedback, the students will continue to evolve their product with the the ultimate goal being to create a nonprofit or a business that will use it profits to help others.

Christina Mastroianni, Director of Civic Engagement at the Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond, spoke to the 9th-grade class at the conclusion of their year-long Community Engagement program. Christina’s message included what it means to be an engaged citizen, how to find meaningful service opportunities in the Richmond area, and highlighted the fact that volunteers are vital to the success of Richmond area nonprofits.

Today is Earth Day, and some 4th Graders talked with one of our groundskeepers, Robyn Hartley, about her work on our campus, with plants and trees. Mrs. Hartley received a degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech.

Sonja Kapadia '17 (second from left) and Kate Partlow '17 (far right), both second-year students at the University of Virginia, each recently received HannahGrahamMemorialAwards to advance women’s health in Rwanda.

After cleaning out filterras around Collegiate School’s campus, Elizabeth Andrews’ and Marcie Moyer’s Kindergarten classes began to notice trash around the storm drains on the Lower School playground known as Fort Cougar. This observation led the children to collect, sort and label the trash.

As the second phase of Envision Richmond, Collegiate School’s Capstone program for 8th Graders, students this week continued their connection with the Richmond-area nonprofit organizations they learned about last fall.

This week, Collegiate School 5th Graders kicked off a cross-curricular service learning project to explore what should become of the abandoned Pump House, located on the north bank of the James River. Students heard from Joe Costello, founder of Friends of the Pump House, who presented information about the historical site.

Collegiate 2nd Graders learned about sustainability through their yearlong service learning project with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. They planted grass seeds and will transplant the seedlings when they return to the Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach later this month.

Collegiate School students in the Global Public Health senior Capstone are exploring the role of social, cultural, economic, environmental and political factors as they relate to access to health care and quality of life.

In November, our 2nd Graders undertook a service learning effort to place Little Sun solar-powered lanterns in the hands of individuals in need, including those of students at Jams Academy, our partner school in Cameroon.

The fifth annual TEDxYouth@RVA will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17, in Collegiate School’s Hershey Center for the Arts. The general public is invited to hear a wide range of local speakers reflect on the theme Elevate.

During a special presentation last week, five Collegiate students shared how student endowments made possible by the generosity of Collegiate School families enabled them to travel and explore their individual areas of interest. One of those students, senior Azzuri Fleming, received the Mary Parker Moncure Vaden Endowment Award and used her funding to create a community-wide music festival for youth called Beats, Rhymes and Life.

“I did this because I feel like there is a lack of resources and outlets in Richmond for youth who want to pursue music seriously,” Azzuri said.

Today, Collegiate School 8th Grade students capped a week of thinking outside the box -- and outside the classroom -- by presenting to their peers, teachers and community leaders creative solutions to challenges impacting the Greater Richmond community. The presentations marked the culmination of this year's Envision Richmond program, the sixth iteration of the entire 8th Grade’s weeklong immersion into local nonprofits, coupled with hands-on lessons that helped the students strengthen their leadership and problem-solving skills and learn how to make a lasting, positive change.

Now entering its third year, CreateAthon, a senior Capstone class, presents Collegiate School students with a challenge on behalf of five local nonprofits whose success depends not only on creative and strategic thinking, but also on teamwork and project management.

Five Collegiate School students shared during a special presentation today how student endowments made possible by the generosity of Collegiate families enabled them to travel and explore their individual areas of interest.

This week, Collegiate School’s entire 8th Grade will take part in Envision Richmond, an annual grade-level Capstone program that takes students out of the classroom Monday through Friday and immerses them in the local community to hone their leadership and civic engagement skills.

Three days a week throughout the school year, Collegiate Upper School students can be found tutoring and mentoring immigrant and refugee students at Quioccasin Middle School through the Tuckahoe YMCA’s Strengthening Teens Academically and Recreationally (STAR) program. Our 2018-19 volunteers participated in their first tutoring session of the school year earlier this week, helping Middle Schoolers with their homework and engaging them in physical activity and in an arts and craft project. All involved are looking forward to a great year ahead!

Collegiate seniors in the CreateAthon Capstone class took part in a marketing workshop facilitated by Brand Innovation and Marketing Consultant Dave Clemans. Students experienced a hands-on, real-world marketing challenge to promote NHL.tv, the National Hockey League's streaming service. The seniors learned about Mr. Clemans' creative process in developing taglines and media tactics. These skills will prove invaluable as the students begin their own creative marketing work for local nonprofit companies in Richmond.

When Upper and Middle School students visit McFall Hall for lunch, they'll be greeted by a mural that depicts messages from Syrian refugees. The mural was created by members of this year's 7th Grade class who last year founded the Syrian Youth Refugee Association (SYRA), a club aimed at aiding those affected by the ongoing war in that country.

This summer rising 8th Grade students planned, organized and implemented JUMP (Join Us Making Progress), a week-long summer camp involving outdoor education, cooperative games, athletics, reading buddies and making healthy snacks. Middle School students mentored and worked directly with 3rd Grade students from from Peter Paul Development Center over the course of four days at Collegiate and one day at Maymont.

Liberation Veterans Services (LVS) believes that two words that should never go together are "homeless" and "veteran" and is dedicated to providing a safe haven exclusively for veterans in crisis. As part of a service learning pilot project, Collegiate student volunteers listened to LVS clients share their stories. Based on their interview work, the students then created a video and art work inspired by the veterans they met.

Middle School history teacher Laurie Goode and Director of Student Life Beth Kondorossy led 20 rising 8th Graders on an annual service trip to Dungannon, Virginia, from June 10-16. While there, the group completed jobs and projects to help the community, including painting, staining, weeding and cleaning. The trip also involves teambuilding and gaining independence.

Collegiate School 6th Graders this year founded Syrian Youth Refugee Association (SYRA), an club aimed at aiding those affected by the ongoing war in that country. The students were inspired to create the club after studying immigration and refugees in 4th Grade. Their studies spurred them on to learn more about Syrian refugees and how they might better serve them.

Collegiate School students enrolled in the senior Capstone class, Sustainable Solutions to the Future of Food, spent the semester considering the following question, “How can we ensure that people have access to safe, healthy, affordable food in a way that can be both environmentally and economically sustainable?”

During the month of April, Collegiate School worked with several community partners to construct and donate nearly a dozen piñatas to the 17th annual Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s ¿Qué Pasa? Festival.

Seniors enrolled in the Global Public Health senior Capstone class at Collegiate School spent the second half of the spring semester working on service learning consulting projects with four nonprofits in the public health sector.

Collegiate School today hosted the 31st annual Meet in the Middle, a Special Olympics event for Henrico County Middle School students run by Collegiate 10th Graders. Nearly 300 visiting students competed in multiple sporting events on Grover Jones Field.

After visiting Pony Pasture and the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge earlier this year, Collegiate Kindergarten classes visited Reedy Creek recently as they continued their investigation of the James River. Educators from the James River Association were on hand to teach students about the impact pesticides and fertilizers have on the water quality of the James River.

As an extension of Envision Richmond, the 8th Grade capstone experience which immerses the entire grade level in the local community with an intensive leadership and civic engagement curriculum, students in the "first responders" group wanted to find a way to thank some local first responders.

As part of Phase II of Envision Richmond, Collegiate School's 8th Grade Capstone experience that immerses students in the local community with an intensive leadership and civic engagement focus, eight students traveled to Oakgrove-Bellemeade Community Center over the weekend. The students assisted in the beautification and grand opening of the neighborhood bike shop and lawn maintenance business being developed to help youth in the community.

A group of Collegiate School students enrolled in the senior Capstone class, CreateAthon: Working with Nonprofits, learned recently that the strategies and ideas they shared with two Richmond-area nonprofits have yielded meaningful results.

As part of Collegiate School’s senior Capstone course, International Emerging Leaders - Americas, students focus on an in-depth service learning program in partnership with Sacred Heart Center, a Richmond nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Latino community.

Collegiate School Kindergartners in Beth Anne Shelly and Elizabeth Andrews' classes recently collaborated on creating their own shoe store to learn about economics and empathy, and the Kinder Kids Shoe Store opened for business this morning in Centennial Hall.

Members of Collegiate School's Interact Club and other student volunteers were joined recently by members of the West Richmond Rotary Club and the Richmond-area Duke University Alumni chapter to pack 20,088 meals for Rise Against Hunger. The efforts of all involved helped prepare enough food to feed 80,000 people.

Elementary school educators in Houston, Texas, are responding positively to a book produced by Collegiate School’s Lower School art teacher and her 1st Grade students soon after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city.

Three days a week throughout the school year, Collegiate Upper School students can be found tutoring and mentoring immigrant and refugee students at Quioccasin Middle School through the Tuckahoe YMCA’s Strengthening Teens Academically and Recreationally (STAR) program.

A group of current Cougars and alums (and their families) took time to show support for Upper School counselor and mindfulness teacher Alex Peavey, and the entire Richmond-area got a chance to learn about his courageous journey through cancer via a Richmond Times-Dispatch column penned by our own Weldon Bradshaw.

Collegiate Upper School students worked in their advisories to collect Thanksgiving food for The Little Sisters of the Poor, an international congregation of Roman Catholic women religious founded in 1839 by Saint Jeanne Jugan. Together with a diverse network of collaborators, The Little Sisters of the Poor serve the elderly poor in over 30 countries around the world.

Upper School teacher Dr. Leah Angell Sievers’ English elective class, Literature of Elegy & Redemption, welcomed Grace Gallagher of the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation, whose mission it is to be a positive force that works to cultivate awareness and understanding of teenage depression and anxiety.

Several advertising, communication and art direction professionals joined teams of Collegiate seniors enrolled in the Senior Capstone class, CreateAthon on Campus, for a day of brainstorming. As part of the Capstone, teams of students are working in partnership with four Richmond-area nonprofits to enhance each organizations’ impact through effective marketing.

After five days of immersion in Richmond-area nonprofit organizations and the challenges they face on a daily basis, Collegiate School 8th Graders presented their possible solutions this morning to community leaders, School administrators and faculty members as the culmination of Envision Richmond, the grade-level Capstone program.

As their weeklong Envision Richmond Capstone program continues, Collegiate School 8th Graders gathered in teams today to create prototypes for the solutions they’ve imagined might solve issues facing more than 20 local nonprofit organizations.

From Oct. 16-20, Collegiate School’s entire 8th Grade will embark on Envision Richmond, the grade-level capstone program that immerses students into the local community with a focus on intensive leadership and civic engagement.

This week, Lower School students gathered in the Estes Multipurpose Room for the Stone Soup Kickoff Celebration, the annual canned food drive to benefit FeedMore Food Bank, an organization serving 34 counties and cities in Central Virginia.

The Collegiate Upper School Earth Society recently installed a boundary wire for a robotic lawnmower that is being tested behind the School's North Science building under the leadership of Lower School parent Matt Kave. After the installation, the Collegiate Service Club ventured to Forest Hill Park for a river cleanup.

Collegiate School served as host this week to 20 Chinese-American students attending a special summer camp in the Sharp Academic Commons. Finalizing the idea to facilitate the camp came about after rising senior Emily Yue attended a national student leadership conference in July 2017.

Thirteen Collegiate School students, 11 rising 8th Graders and two rising sophomores, met last spring to design JUMP, a weeklong summer program filled with interactive games and activities, for 2nd and 3rd Graders enrolled in Peter Paul Development Center.

Collegiate School hosted the 30th annual Meet in the Middle, a Special Olympics event for Henrico County Middle School students run by Collegiate 10th Graders today. The more than 200 visiting students competed in multiple sporting events on Grover Jones Field and in tennis on the Robins campus.

As the second phase of Envision Richmond, Collegiate School’s capstone program for 8th Graders, students over the past month continued their connection with the Richmond-area nonprofit organizations they learned about last fall.

The Middle School Leadership Team is composed of 8th Grade students who have expressed interest in service and leadership throughout their Middle School experience. This year, the Middle School Leadership Team interviewed and learned about the roles of the staff and administration who work beyond the classroom to operate and maintain Collegiate School.

As a culmination of semester-long efforts in Senior Seminars, students presented findings and recommendations to guests, faculty, administration and professionals. They also discussed and debated the food industry with local experts and met with nonprofit organizations to deliver solutions.

As a culmination of their seminar, CreateAthon: Working with Nonprofits, and their experience participating in a CreateAthon on Campus, five teams of Collegiate School seniors this morning presented their work to help area organizations with their marketing campaigns. (A sixth group will present at a later date.)

Collegiate 1st Graders have been learning about entrepreneurship, business models and consumer needs and wants, while also creating a product they could sell - handcrafted and creatively-designed stationery.

Collegiate 5th Graders partnered this week with the James River Association for a service learning field trip at the Pump House Park, part of the James River Park System. The trip tied together concepts from the students’ study of the importance of water in their ancient history and in science classes.

Sixteen Collegiate School seniors returned home from Mexico on Saturday after participating in the 4th annual Youth Forum on International Dialogue, as part of Collegiate’s International Emerging Leaders - Americas program.

Every February, as part of their Service Learning curriculum, Collegiate School 9th Graders participate in Community Engagement Week, during which they volunteer at local nonprofit organizations and schools.

Collegiate School Lower School students participated in stocking the book shelves of the Central Virginia Children's Book Bank and HomeAgain. CVCBB's mission is to "put as many books as possible into the hands and lives of children in need." The Lower School theme this year is "Growing With Books." We are helping to share our love of reading with others for a joyful holiday season. Pictured are Campus Cubs who wore special holiday hats at carpool arrival to remind everyone of our book drive project.

A group of Collegiate School Middle School students recently designed a service learning project based on group interests, budget and times constraints. The students chose to visit Doorways, formerly Hospital Hospitality House, near the VCU Medical Center. The facility “provides lodging and support for referred patients and families who need to be close to the hospital but not far from the feeling of home.” While at Doorways, students and faculty met residents and prepared baked goods and bag lunches. Doorways reported that by the same evening, all the greatly appreciated baked goods and packed meals were eaten by residents.

Collegiate School students in Advanced Placement Spanish with faculty mentor Esperanza Soria-Nieto organize, facilitate and run an English as a Second Language (ESL) program, Saturday Academy, held on Saturday mornings at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School in Richmond.

Through The Tuckahoe Family YMCA’s program Strengthening Teens Academically and Recreationally (STAR), Collegiate students tutor immigrant and refugee students at Quioccasin Middle School (formerly Byrd Middle School). The program began when its creator, Meg Billet, met with the principal of Quioccasin Middle School, Cheri Guempel, to discuss the needs of the school, which is only about a mile from the Tuckahoe Family YMCA facility. Ms. Guempel informed Ms. Billett of the growing refugee population, and she shared that she felt that the refugee students were getting lost in the shuffle of the school community.

Guest speaker Reginald E. Gordon joined Collegiate School students in their Senior Seminar: Poverty and Prosperity, along with members of the Collegiate Community Council and the Mosaic Club yesterday to talk about his work as Director of the Office of Community Wealth Building for the City of Richmond.

Collegiate's 6th Grade Chinese language students met with a local Chinese Senior Group this week. Their visit brought alive their study of Chinese language and culture, and provided them with an intergenerational experience.

In Erica Coffey's Poverty to Prosperity Senior Seminar, students investigate the cycle of poverty, its seemingly endless continuation and the great difficulty experienced by individuals and families who, once below a certain level of resources, very often experience a chain of events that can perpetuate their circumstances. Students make site visits to HomeAgain and Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School, as well as hear from Reggie Gordon, Director of Office of Community Wealth Building for the city of Richmond, and JoLinda Jones, Director of the family shelter at HomeAgain, to learn about the poverty cycle, understand multiple perspectives and experience how complicated breaking the cycle can be.

On Day 5 of Envision Richmond, Collegiate School’s weeklong capstone program for 8th Graders, students presented their creative solutions for issues facing 20 Richmond-based nonprofit organizations. Each idea was generated from the students’ visits and candid conversations with leaders and patrons of the nonprofits they toured.

Beginning Monday, Oct. 17, the entire 8th Grade at Collegiate School will embark on its weeklong capstone project, Envision Richmond. Now in its fourth year, the unique experience provides 8th Graders with the opportunity to explore their city, learn the issues it faces and develop viable solutions as creative designers and problem solvers.